My 5/6/2021 diary, “Reflection,” is about understanding my sudden obsession with WWII movies. As I research and write further, I realize I may not be using the right words to describe some threats to democracy – past, present, and future – including those to the United States.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I have been using totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and fascism interchangeably. This glaring error dawned on me as I began writing about 21-year-old Sophie Scholl and her activism and resistance to the Nazi regime. (That diary is coming soon.)
I headed back to Google for the umpteenth time. This diary is an attempt to briefly summarize the differences in these types of government and help me write with more precision.
All nations have an official form of government as designated in the CIA’s World Factbook. However, a nation’s description of its own government can often be less than objective. The boundaries between various forms of government can be fluid or poorly defined, often with overlapping characteristics.
Totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and fascism are good examples:
Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all public and private life aspects. This control extends to all political and financial matters and the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
Examples of characteristics that might be present in a totalitarian state include:
- Rule enforced by a single dictator
- The presence of a single ruling political party
- Strict censorship, if not total control of the press
- Constant dissemination of pro-government propaganda
- Mandatory service in the military for all citizens
- Mandatory population control practices
- Prohibition of specific religious or political groups and practices
- Prohibition of any form of public criticism of the government
- Laws enforced by secret police forces or the military
Typically, the characteristics of a totalitarian state tend to cause people to fear their government. Rather than trying to ease that fear, totalitarian rulers encourage it and use it to ensure the people's cooperation.
Early examples of totalitarian states include Germany under Adolf Hitler and Italy under Benito Mussolini. More recent examples include Iraq under Saddam Hussein and North Korea under Kim Jong-un.
Authoritarianism
An authoritarian state is characterized by a strong central government that allows people a limited degree of political freedom. However, the government controls the political process and all individual freedom without any constitutional accountability.
In 1964, Juan José Linz, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Yale University, described the four most recognizable characteristics of authoritarian states as:
- Limited political freedom with strict government controls imposed on political institutions and groups like legislatures, political parties, and special-interest groups.
- A controlling regime that justifies itself to the people as a “necessary evil” uniquely capable of coping with “easily recognizable societal problems,” such as hunger, poverty, and violent insurgency.
- Strict government-imposed constraints on social freedoms, such as suppression of political opponents and anti-regime activity.
- The presence of a ruling executive with vague, shifting, and loosely defined powers.
Modern dictatorships such as Venezuela under Hugo Chávez and Cuba under Fidel Castro typify authoritarian governments.
While the People’s Republic of China under Chairman Mao Zedong was considered a totalitarian state, modern-day China is more accurately described as an authoritarian state because its citizens are now allowed limited personal freedoms.
Totalitarian Vs. Authoritarian Governments
In a totalitarian state, the government's range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Totalitarian governments control education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights
While a single dictator or group holds all power in an authoritarian government, the people are allowed a limited degree of political freedom.
Fascism
Fascism is a form of government combining the most extreme aspects of both totalitarianism and authoritarianism. Even when compared to radical nationalistic ideologies like Marxism and anarchism, fascism is considered the far right of the political spectrum.
Fascism is the imposition of dictatorial power, government control of industry and commerce, and the forcible suppression of opposition, often at the hands of the military or a secret police force.
Fascism was first seen in Italy during World War I, spreading to Germany and other European countries during World War II.
The Foundations of Fascism
The foundation of fascism is a combination of ultranationalism—an extreme devotion to one's nation over all others—along with a widely held belief among the people that the country must, and will, somehow be saved or "reborn." Rather than working for concrete solutions to economic, political, and social problems, fascist rulers divert the peoples' focus while winning public support by elevating the idea of a need for a national rebirth into a virtual religion. To this end, fascists encourage the growth of cults of national unity and racial purity.
In pre-World War II Europe, fascist movements promoted the belief that non-Europeans were genetically inferior to Europeans. This passion for racial purity often led fascist leaders to undertake mandatory genetic modification programs to create a pure "national race" through selective breeding.
Historically, the primary function of fascist regimes has been to maintain the nation in a constant state of readiness for war. Fascists observed how rapid, mass military mobilizations during World War I blurred the lines between the roles of civilians and combatants. Drawing on those experiences, fascist rulers strive to create a rabidly nationalistic culture of "military citizenship." All citizens are willing and prepared to take on some military duties during war, including actual combat.
In addition, fascists view democracy and the electoral process as an obsolete and unnecessary obstacle to maintaining constant military readiness. They also consider a totalitarian, one-party state the key to preparing the nation for war and its resulting economic and social hardships.
Today, few governments publicly describe themselves as fascist. Instead, the label is more often used pejoratively by those critical of specific governments or leaders. For example, the term "neo-fascist" describes governments or individuals espousing radical, far-right political ideologies like those of the World War II fascist states.
Photo Credit - Rob Walsh on Unsplash.com
Source Article Citation:
Longley, Robert, Difference Between Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, Fascism (thoughtco.com)
ThoughtCo
March 29, 2021